CHICOPEE, Mass. (October 11, 2025) – The Western New England women's volleyball team earned a pair of 3-0 victories on Saturday afternoon from Picknelly Arena on the campus of Elms College, defeating both New England College and the hosting Blazers of Elms College in straight sets. Sophomore setter Deana Baez finished the afternoon with 42 combined set assists for the two matches while senior middle blocker Rachel Critz totaled 13 kills and eight blocks across the two wins to help the Golden Bears begin a winning streak.

Records:

• Western New England: 7-12
• New England College: 6-12
• Elms College

How it Happened (vs. New England College)

First Set:

• Western New England began the match with service, and Katie Garland picked up a service ace to get the afternoon rolling. The Golden Bears jumped out to an early 5-2 lead as Charlei Henkel tallied a kill for WNE. The Golden Bears stayed ahead in the opening set seeing Léa Barber contribute with her first kill of the afternoon at 11-6, which sparked four points in a row for the blue and gold, who took a 14-6 lead. 
• New England College erased WNE's four-points in a row with four straight, but a pair of errors from the Pilgrims brought WNE's lead back to six, 16-10. New England College pushed to get back into the opening set, using a run of six of seven points to trail by two 21-19. 
• Western New England answered with a strong finish, scoring four of the final six points of the set to come out on top, defeating NEC 25-21. The Golden Bears picked up three of their final four points on errors from the Pilgrims to lead 1-0 in the match. Western New England hit .139 in the opening set, recording  nine kills. 

Second Set:

• The two teams traded the first eight points of the second set before New England College was the first team to pick up back-to-back points to lead 5-4. The Pilgrims extended their lead to two, 9-7 and then again at 10-8 before four straight points from Western New England shifted momentum in the Golden Bears' favor. 
• Léa Barber dropped a kill and a service ace while Rachel Critz put down a kill of her own from Deana Baez to give Western New England a 12-10 lead at the midway point of the second set. Western New England continues to press, winning ten of 12 points to take a big lead, 18-12. On the run, Sage Pycz contributed  a pair of service aces. 
• Riding the momentum, the Golden Bears closed out the second set, 25-18. WNE took advantage of seven NEC errors in the second set while producing four service aces, leading in the match 2-0. 

Third Set:

• A quick 4-1 lead for the Golden Bears opened the third set. A block from Adrionne Sharp and Charlei Henkel, along with kills from Henkel and Léa Barber, helped the blue and gold to the early lead. New England College bounced back quickly however, scoring the next five points to take a 6-4 lead. The Pilgrims held their lead until a kill from Morgan Bonin tied the match at nine, which sparked another four of five points to go Western New England's way. 
• Olivia Long produced back-to-back-service aces for the Golden Bears on their mini run to extend WNE's edge. Despite the run, New England College battled back into the match and grabbed a one-point lead at 14-13. Western New England responded again, getting a kill from Critz and a block from Baez to move ahead 20-18. 
• Looking to finish the match in three sets, the Golden Bears saw the Pilgrims bounce back with three of the next four points to tie the third set at 21 but WNE closed it out with the final four points. A pair of attacking errors from the Pilgrims, combined with a kill from Barber and a service ace from Madison Stauss, sealed the 25-21 third-set win and a 3-0 match sweep. 

Inside the Lines:

• The Golden Bears hit .168 for the match, led by their .303 attacking percentage in the second set, which saw the blue and gold come up with a match-high 13 kills and just three errors. 
• Léa Barber collected nine kills in the match to lead all players while Rachel Critz (8) and Morgan Bonin (7) helped the Golden Bears in the victory. 
• Western New England tallied 13 service aces with both Barber and Sage Pycz producing three each. 
• Critz, Deana Baez, and Adrionne Sharp all recorded two blocks for WNE. 
• This was the first-ever meeting between the two teams all-time. 

How It Happened (vs. Elms College):

First Set:

• The Golden Bears got back in action quickly to take on the hosting Blazers of Elms College, where they saw Elms jump out to an early 5-1 lead. Rachel Critz stopped the run for the Golden Bears with a kill, but three more points from Elms saw the Blazers take a big 8-2 lead early. Western New England was able to get back into the match quickly, ripping off the next six points, as Deana Baez and Critz produced a pair of kills and combined for a block while Charlei Henkel had a service ace for the Golden Bears to even the opening set at eight.
• The Blazers had the next three points before the Golden Bears took their first lead of the match with the next five points overall, led by service from Olivia Long, that gave Western New England a 14-13 lead through the midway point of the set. The opening set continued to go back-and-forth with neither team holding bigger than a three-point lead until the end of the set. With the set tied at 18, the Golden Bears began to separate themselves from Elms to take the opening set. 
• Charlei Henkel dropped in a kill for WNE, followed by another from Critz while Léa Barber put down an ace, giving WNE a 21-18 lead. Seven of the final nine points of the set belonged to Western New England, including a kill from Morgan Bonin and another ace from Olivia Long to give the blue and gold a 25-20 opening-set victory. 
• The Golden Bears tallied ten kills in the set, four from Critz on eight attacks, who also totaled one and a half blocks. WNE gave away ten points however, on ten attack errors. 

Second Set:

• Elms opened the second set with the first two points as the Golden Bears struggled on the attack, giving the Blazers the early advanage. Sage Pycz and Morgan Bonin gave Western New England its two fo the next three points of the opening set while Léa Barber produced her first kill of the match to drop the Elms lead to one, 7-6. 
• Five of the next six points went Western New England's way as the Golden Bears were able to jump out to their first lead of the set, taking an 11-9 lead. WNE took advantage of four Elms errors, while a service ace from Barber put the Golden bears ahead 11-9. Through the midway point of the second set, Elms drew even with the Golden Bears at 19 following four straight points from the home team to get back into the set. 
• Western New England ripped off four points in a row, including another two kills from Baez and Critz to lead 23-19, on the brink of a two-sets-to-none lead. The Golden Bears saw Elms respond with the next four of five points, as WNE led 24-23. Elms tied the set at 24 before WNE regained the lead on a Morgan Bonin kill. The blue and gold could not finish off the set with Elms again tying it at 25. The Golden Bears then saw the Blazers pick up a pair of unforced errors to wrap up the set in their favor, coming away with a 27-25 victory, leading 2-0 in the match. WNE recorded 11 kills and hit .179 for the set. Elms collected 14 kills and hit .200 for the set. Five blocks and eight service aces guided the Golden Bears to a second-set victory. 

Third Set:

• The Golden Bears jumped out in front through the first nine points of the set, leading 6-3. Charlei Henkel produced three kills and a service ace early to get the Golden Bears going. The blue and gold continued to roll in the third set, looking for a sweep of Elms, as Morgan Bonin dropped in a pair of kills to give WNE a 10-4 lead.
• Through the midway point of the set, the Golden Bears maintained their lead, but Elms made a run to get back within one, 16-15, following a kill and service ace from Alysha Izquierdo and Caitlyn Flynn. Western New England pulled ahead again by scoring four straight points off Elms errors to take a 20-17 advantage.
• Elms cut the deficit to one, 20-19, but a service error and a kill from Léa Barber forced an Elms timeout as WNE extended its lead to 22-19. The timeout only fueled the Golden Bears, who came away with three of the final four points of the set to close out a 25-20 win and complete the 3-0 sweep over Elms.

Inside the Lines:

• WNE registered 32 kills in the match, hitting .126 overall. Morgan Bonin led the Golden Bears with eight kills, while Charlei Henkel added seven.
• The Golden Bears tallied eight blocks in the match, led by Rachel Critz, who recorded three. Deana Baez added 2.5 blocks, while Adrionne Sharp contributed 1.5.
• Western New England excelled at the service line, dropping in 11 aces. Henkel led the way with four, while Olivia Long added three.
• WNE remains unbeaten against Elms all-time, improving to 12-0 in the series.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England remains out of conference for its next match as it travels to Dean College on Thursday, October 16, at 6:00 PM